Destiny
It was quiet in his den hidden deep under the mountain. He was the Alpha under the mountain.
Toothless's rest had been very long and deep with nothing disturbing him. But then his dreams started bothering him more. Small shapes flitted among the mountains of treasure.
Suddenly, panic and alarm flew through every limb as he woke up, shifted on his hoard, opened his eyes, and stared toward the entrance of his cave. The only path inside was covered in spikes of ice.
Nothing appeared to be moving there. Neither could he smell anything different on the air. But as he remained attentive and listened, there was a very faint shuffling. Something was coming to take his hoard!
Not if he killed it first!
He readied his flame as the unknown enemy approached with a faint clicking sounding from the entrance. Then he saw it, another dragon like him: a dark wing with green eyes.
The new dark wing walked alone into the cave while ignoring all the treasure around him.
Toothless stared back at the fellow Night Fury sitting on the pile of unimportant treasure. The dragon looked so similar to him. It had the same green eyes as he did.
So Toothless leapt to his paws, slithered off his precious treasure hoard, and strode toward the possible challenger. Just glaring at it put confusion in his soul-fire because of how similar this dragon looked to himself. It was almost as though they were kin.
Did the hoarding Night Fury plan to fight him now? He could if that was needed. They were very evenly-matched in strength, and he knew everything this dragon could do. He knew it intimately.
"You!" he growled.
"You," he answered.
"What? What are you!"
"I am what you could be. Great and free," Toothless whispered.
"No, I am great! This is my hoard!" Toothless roared.
"Do you not remember the sky?" Toothless asked.
Yes, he remembered the sky. Why was he hiding from the sun now, and why was there another dark wing who looked almost exactly like him? Why did the sky matter?
He nosed closer toward the snarling Night Fury that was closing on him. They both held their wings out and bared sharp teeth in display.
He roared and leaped at the other in challenge. Teeth snapped, claws flashed, and flame was hurled. But every strike on the other only hurt both of them. Every scratch that drew blood appeared on himself also. Every wound faded as soon as it was given. Every broken wing immediately snapped into place and healed.
"How are you doing this?" he snarled.
The dark wing shook its head.
"No, there is no you or me."
Recognition and understanding poured into their soul-fires at the same moment. Their fighting ceased as they realized how futile it was.
Toothless stared at his shadow, at the other self he could be if he wanted.
"I wish that we were different. Then I could destroy you and throw you out of our soul-fire, but that would be to destroy myself also."
"True. Why did you bother coming here?" Toothless snorted.
Toothless turned tail and started to leave the den; there was nothing he wanted in this cave.
"Just to see you once. Now I will go fly in the sky while you stay here in the dark. Never come out and foul my flights."
Toothless laughed at how blind the other him was.
"You will never escape me or the pull of the hoard. I am part of you. I am you."
Toothless nodded in reluctant acceptance. Then he glared at the other Toothless that was climbing onto its hoard.
"True, you are me, but I can fight and grow stronger while you sit here and grow weaker. Maybe I will be strong enough to destroy you one day."
Toothless flashed his teeth as he shifted on the gold.
"You are wrong about that. You cannot bury in the shadows what you want; your wants will only grow stronger the more you hide from them and deny them. I will only grow stronger. Join me and stop resisting..."
Toothless growled.
"I do not hide from them. Every cub strengthens its wings with small flights at first, and I am still learning to fly the winds of life."
"What?" he growled, confused.
"You might be right that I cannot escape from you or fight you on my own. No one flies on their own in life. There are always others who fly with you and give you reason to be."
"I need no one else! Needing others is weakness."
"Well, I do, and that is my strength; that makes me different from you. Stay here and rot."
Toothless laughed as the other him left the cave. The pile of gold was so warm on his belly as he burrowed into it. The shining gold, always so bright in his eyes, almost looked a little duller, though no less precious. The other could not understand why this gold was precious.
Keeping what was good to himself, preventing all others from enjoying the good, was strength. Living for himself was all that mattered.
When Toothless stepped out into the open sunlight, he beheld two other people waiting for him. Two instead of the one only he feared he would see? They were both precious in different ways which all the gold in the world could not compare to.
Sharing his life-flight with others, making other's life-flights warmer and the world better, was strength.
Hiccup wasn't sure if he was ready to go into the crypt yet. These crypts were reserved to criminals and betrayers of the tribe and of kin. But something had been spooking people around here, and that something had to be dealt with.
It made for a good test of his worth to the tribe, now that all the dragons were gone.
Let's see: shield, check; ax, check; armor, check; torch, check; Hiccup, always...
Then he glanced over his shoulder and imagined the entire tribe there, cheering him on or cheering at his inevitable defeat; it was hard for him to tell them apart sometimes.
But this was his chance to prove himself!
"It's go time!"
Shield and torch in hand and with his ax at his hip, he strode inside the wide crypt, past the flowing mist that was so strange and which was a certain sign that something unnatural lived inside. He walked in through the darkness as his footsteps echoed on the rock walls of the crypt.
But everything was motionless within the large burial chamber. None of the interred were walking around as draugr, which was good for him. He didn't want to have to fight anything undead. He carefully looked around, but there was no sign that anyone else had been living here. Even the dust on the floor was undisturbed.
Hmm, guess there's nothing here. Shame, I really wanted to kill... something... that's who I am...
He sighed.
"Well, this was stupid..."
There was no further reason to stay there, so he spun around to leave.
Then he screamed and jumped back in alarm at what was standing there in the entrance to the crypt. It was an undead dragon, and not just any dragon, but a Night Fury no less!
The dragon, missing patches of scales and much of its hide and wings, glared at him out of empty eye-sockets.
He was so dead. No one said anything about fighting undead dragons!
Then it spoke to him.
"You did this..."
I did... what!
"You killed me!"
The undead Night Fury jumped at him, slashed aside his shield and ax and pinned him to the ground with a clawed paw. The dragon was definitely not toothless either.
"No! I'm not a dragon-killer! I swear!"
It reared up and tried to swat at him, but he dodged its strike and rolled aside.
"Then why am I dead!"
The undead Night Fury bit his foot, seized him as he screamed in pain, and then hurled him screaming through the air to crash into the side of the crypt. He hit the cold stone wall and then fell down into an open coffin which closed on him.
The coffin had no bottom.
His mangled foot burned as he screamed and fell through the unending, timeless darkness.
In weightless freefall.
Everything was confusing with flashes of light, muffled voices, and pain, so much pain where he had been bitten.
'We must do it...'
Soothing comfort.
'Not safe here...'
Warmth again.
'Get out...'
Restful peace beckoned down below in the shadows where he belonged.
'Please live...'
Was there a warm light like a star high above in the darkness?
'My little one...'
Was he falling down or up? What was the weight dragging him down?
There was a very large chain in his hands, and a large ball of dark rock, a Seeing-stone, was attached to the chain. Within the depths of the Seeing-stone swirled memories and deeds and feelings and insecurities and fears and, most of all, guilt.
Why was he carrying this thing that weighed him down so much? There was no good reason. He should just let it go and be free; however, his hands were clenched tightly to the chain because it was all he knew. Carrying this thing with him gave continuity to his life. It was familiar and what he deserved. It was him, in a way.
Part of him knew that it would be good to let it go, but he could not because part of him needed to hold on. He was not whole. Habit was something he could not break out of on his own.
Maybe he was not him, confusing though that was. Maybe no one was truly whole, free, and strong enough on their own. Maybe he just didn't truly know himself.
He looked up to the light and wept at how beautiful and pure it was and how thoroughly it burned away enough of his remaining pride to admit that he could not do this on his own and that...
"Help me..."
No sooner did those words whisper into the darkness than the thick, heavy chain melted into ash which faded on a warm wind as the Seeing-stone fell away into the dark. The light was so bright as the stars spun above.
The warm wind, flowing over a sea which had changed to silver glass, blew from above a far green country with white shores all under a swift sunrise. The wind felt like gentle arms in which he could lay down his weary head. All his fears would pass away, and he would be only sleeping in peace. That good land beckoned with a whisper on the wind.
But he knew that land was not for him. It was not yet his time to go.
His work was not finished.
He wanted to fly, but he had no wings. No sooner had the wish entered his heart than there were wings in the sky with him. The dragon, whom he knew so dearly now, flew up under him and wordlessly agreed to carry him. Up into the sky where another dear shape, a darker one, flew out of a cloud as they all soared together.
Toward light and life.
Toothless woke up splayed out on his belly in short grass. There were voices murmuring from far away. He felt incredibly weak and hungry,
Grr... what? Where am I?
He opened his eyes and noticed that he was in a tent. He was also not alone.
Moonbeam lay at his side with her tail around his. Far-Flight and Sky-Dancer were resting against each other on the other side of the tent.
His memories were so confusing for some reason. There was a battle over Minas Tirith, Mordor Night Furies had attacked and been defeated, the Witch-king had attacked by taking Hiccup and...
His head flew up from the ground in fear. Hiccup was not here. Where was he and...
Hiccup was in freefall before him, plummeting to the ground as his own vision failed. Why had he fallen?
A dart fell away from his neck: his neck which even now pained him from underneath a bandage tied to his neck.
Wait... we both fell, but I am here...
Someone had to have caught him. There had not been any other Furies in the sky over the city other than Moonbeam. She must have caught him.
And Hiccup was not here in the tent.
Hiccup was not here.
Surely he was not...
He could not have...
How many times had he been there to keep Hiccup safe? How many dangers had they faced together and survived together?
Gone?
"No..." he gasped.
That sound must have been enough to wake all three of his kin at once.
"Burning-Star!" they all cried and flew to their paws.
Their purrs, licks, and nudges did not matter at all or warm his soul-fire.
"Are you well?" "My cub..." "My love..."
It was such a terrible question that he closed his eyes. He both needed to know the truth, and he feared knowing the truth if it would confirm what had probably happened.
"Where... is... Hiccup?"
Moonbeam nuzzled his head, avoiding his neck.
"He is... well in another tent," she said.
Hiccup was well?
He was alive?
"He... lives?" he gasped.
"Yes, your brother... lives," Sky-Dancer warbled.
Lives?
Hiccup was alive.
His human brother and best friend was alive.
Warmth replaced the cold in his soul-fire after that realization and reassurance. They would know whatever had happened while he was asleep, and he trusted whatever they said. There was just one detail that was confusing. Hiccup had been falling just like him.
"How? How... is he... alive? He was... falling..."
"I caught you both," Moonbeam whispered.
He opened his eyes, turned to her, and stared at her in disbelief and awe. But he trusted that she was telling the truth and had somehow caught him and Hiccup. How was irrelevant.
She saved them both.
She saved Hiccup.
She...
His head fell onto her muzzle as the whine broke out from deep inside. No strength was left in him to do anything but weep hot tears.
Was it his dam on his other side, snuggled up against him and purring with sympathy? Was it his sire before him, resting a chin on his shoulder?
Tears had been so infrequent in his life. None of the other dragons he could remember cried out of great feeling. Him and Hiccup talking together about the idea of brothers and family had been the first time he recalled. His meeting his sire, dam, and blood brother for the first time was another. His first true talk with Moonbeam as a possible mate, in which she rejected him because he was still grounded then, was the most recent.
Only those most important parts of life could make him feel as he did now.
The tears stopped, probably because he had no more to give, and the other three had not moved from his side.
He wearily sighed and lay his head on his paws, trying to be gentle and not disturb his neck.
"My... love... you are... amazing... thank you for saving him..." he whispered.
"He is my kin too. I had to save him," Moonbeam whispered back.
"Well, most of him," Far-Flight also whispered.
What did that mean? It did not matter; all that mattered was that Hiccup was alive.
"What happened... to us after... you caught us?" he weakly asked.
"I found Gandalf and brought him to you both. Gandalf had other healers come to help. You had..." Moonbeam paused and whined, "rot in your hurt. That rot took much strength from you, but you will... be better."
He did feel very weak right now. How long had it been since... everything?
"How long... have I been... sleeping?"
"Three days," Sky-Dancer whispered.
There were so many questions he needed answers to. What happened to the pack? What had happened generally? What did his sire mean just before when he mentioned Hiccup?
"Did something... happen to Hiccup?"
Moonbeam froze in her nuzzling his neck, and Far-Flight winced.
"He... was hurt... my cubs were both hurt..." Sky-Dancer whined.
"How was he hurt?"
Hiccup groaned heavily as he pulled the blankets over himself; he had no desire at all to wake up. The constant, gentle fluttering of fabric and steady, deep breaths eventually roused his waking mind enough to wonder.
Uh, what happened? Where am I?
He opened his weary eyes and looked around, slowly knowing more of the world around him. He was in a fur bed on grass in a very big tent, and the sides of the tent gently rolled in the faint wind.
A small table lay next to his bed, and a bowl of a fragrant mash was on the table.
Moonbeam and Toothless were resting across from him on the other side of the tent. They both looked like they were asleep in restful peace, their backs slowly rising and falling with their breaths. Toothless did have a large bandage beside the pendant on his neck, roughly where the...
Recollection finally returned.
A trap in the sky, freefall, despair, and...
She did it.
She caught both of them and saved both of their lives.
He wiped the tears from his eyes, gasped, sat up, and groaned very heavily as he did so; he felt very, very weak and light-headed.
How long was I out...
Moonbeam's head flew up from the ground and turned toward him. Her purple eyes were very wide with concern.
"Moonbeam..." he whispered.
She silently got to her paws and strode the several paces over to his side. Then she knelt before him while faintly crooning.
"Hiccup... are you... well?" she whispered.
What was he supposed to say in such a situation? How could he possibly thank her for saving his and Toothless's lives? No words seemed sufficient.
"Yeah, you... you caught me. You saved me... both of us..."
Oddly, she winced and stared down at her front paws while whining very softly.
"What's wrong?" he weakly asked.
"You still... got hurt..."
"What?"
She faintly nodded toward his blankets while avoiding his eyes.
"Take off the furs," she whispered.
He was wearing nothing but his underwear, but neither of them truly cared about such details, so he complied, pulling off the comfortable and warm blankets until...
He stared, disbelieving, numb, and in total shock. His left leg was gone halfway down the shin. Thick, stained bandages were wrapped around the stump.
Gone.
Only now that he saw the injury did he feel that something was wrong. There was a warmth and a faint throbbing in that leg. And of course he could not feel that foot at all since it was gone.
The tears began falling anew as he realized the terrible truth that he was now a cripple.
Oh gods...
He covered his lower body with the blankets and then faced her. She looked very worried and upset by what she had seen.
It was very obvious to him what had happened, but he wanted to hear from her, partly so that he could reassure her.
"What happened?" he whispered.
She did not meet his eyes, and her ears fell further.
"You were falling so fast, and I had to grab you. My teeth... tore your leg so bad that... it had to come off or it would go rotted. I am sorry I hurt you..." she whined softly.
"Come here... please..." he held out his hands.
She warily leaned forward until he held her muzzle with both hands and rested his forehead against hers.
"You saved me. Thank you. You are... so amazing," he gasped.
She purred softly as he stroked her chin, never wanting to let go as he wept. Weeping, sobbing, and shaking, unsure if any words could possibly be enough in such a situation.
Finally, he let her go, wiped her muzzle dry, and leaned back in his bed. Then he gave a weary sigh, already completely drained of any energy.
"How is he?"
"He is sleeping much. The Nazgul's arrow-bite put rot in him, but Gandalf and Aragorn helped him get the rot out."
There was probably more to it than that, but it was still good to hear regardless. Satisfied that Toothless would be alright, he asked the most terrible question which he was afraid to know the answer to.
"What about the rest of the pack? My... parents?"
She blinked and looked directly back at his eyes.
"Far-Flight has small hurts, nothing bad or grounding. Sky-Dancer has no hurts."
He sighed in profound relief that both of his parents would be fine.
"Good, where are they?"
"They are helping Wings-Of-Ice because he... lost a wing."
"What?" he gasped.
She nodded once.
"A fellbeast bit it off in fighting on the ground. He flamed the fellbeast and killed it, but he is always-grounded now."
A broken wing could heal. Lost tailfins could be replaced. But an entire lost wing was too much.
The Fury would never fly again.
"Is that all?" he whispered, hoping that it was so.
"No. Growls-At-His-Shadow was killed."
The softly-spoken words echoed terribly in the silence that followed.
Killed.
The Fury, who had started out so angry and violent and had actively hunted humans in the previous world, had made so much progress getting to trust, letting go of the past, and being peaceful, if not friendly. He and Dreamcatcher had been the most fervently against bringing the pack down from the Northern Waste precisely because of the danger of doing so.
And he had died.
Dreamcatcher's mate was gone.
Tail-Hunter's father was gone.
He felt like weeping anew except he could not since he had no more tears to give.
"H...how?" he choked out.
"He was hit by one of the Nazgul rot-arrows. He fell from the sky. In all the fighting, no others in the pack were close enough to catch him."
"Any... others?" he gasped.
Thankfully, she shook her head slowly.
"Others have more small hurts, a few were hit with arrows, but no others are dead or grounded."
"Good to hear. How... how long was I asleep?" he whispered while shuffling in place.
"You woke up some before now, but you might not remember that. You were sleeping two days before now and three days before that."
It had been five days since the battle? That would explain why he was so hungry and weak, in addition to being weak because of the missing foot. So much must have happened in that time.
"No, I don't remember. Do you know what else happened in the fighting? What about the humans?"
She grumbled.
"I know some of what happened, but do you want me to bring Gandalf to talk more?"
"Please. And if he could bring some food and water, that would be great..."
She stepped away and waved a paw at him.
"Stay here."
Then she darted out of the tent.
I'm not going anywhere. Not like I can now.
He stared up at the top of the fluttering tent while thinking over what she had already told him.
One Fury was dead and another was permanently grounded. It was terrible, but it could have been far worse.
His gaze rolled over to the sleeping Toothless.
Laying there in bed and staring at his sleeping brother, the guilt and responsibility returned anew. His clear thoughts as he fell from the sky and saw so much of his own life in a new light had not faded at all.
Whose fault was this?
Flame-In-The-Night and Snowfall had told him that they carried responsibility for the pack because they were the leaders. There was some truth in that.
However, the pack was living in peace before he and Toothless found them and convinced them to come back and involve themselves in the war. None of this would have happened if he hadn't argued for them to come back. He definitely shared the responsibility, no matter what the Alphas claimed to the contrary.
A phantom pain shot up his leg. That flare was another reminder of what had happened to him.
She hadn't meant to hurt him, but it had happened. He had lost a limb because of a dragon.
It was very ironic though since Toothless lost his left tailfin. It felt almost appropriate.
They matched.
An unknown amount of time passed as he lay in the haze between sleep and wakefulness, hearing nothing except the flutter of canvas and Toothless's calm and steady breaths.
Part of him wanted to go over to Toothless, gently wake him, and give him a hug. Another part of him reminded him that what had happened to Toothless was, at least partly, his own fault. It would also have been impractical to try crawling around or hobbling on one foot.
So he stayed in bed.
Finally, Moonbeam returned and slipped inside the tent, eventually settling down at Toothless's side with a wing over his back.
Gandalf entered behind her, and he carried with him a simple chair and a small, leather bag. The Wizard's white garments were stained with dirt and blood in several places.
"Gandalf..."
"Master Haddock... you finally decided to come back to us..."
Hiccup sat up and shrugged while groaning.
"Well, dying of infection would have been a dumb way to die. At least falling from the clouds would have been unique..."
Gandalf put the chair next to his bed, handed him the bag and a canteen, and then sat down in the chair; the Wizard gave a great sigh as he did so.
"There is some bread, dried meat, and water," Gandalf said.
"Thanks. What has happened?"
Hiccup then wasted no time in starting on the food and water; he had not eaten a proper meal in days.
Gandalf deflated slightly as he sat back in his chair.
"What has happened? I suppose we should start right after the battle. Moonbeam found me, she was very afraid for you both, and she brought me up outside the Citadel where I found both of you."
"Is that where we are now?"
He wasn't sure, but it was possible that a tent had been set up on the grassy part of the courtyard. Then again, there was no constant wind or chill.
"No, we are in a camp with Aragorn's kin and some men of Rohan far outside the city. This is the safest place for you all now... for several reasons. Your foot was badly mangled, but I was not sure what was wrong with Burning-Star. I realized that he had been shot by a black dart; its poison was still in him. I and Aragorn treated him immediately and drew the poison from him. He will be fine, mostly."
Gandalf frowned.
"You were another matter. Your foot became infected, and it had to come off. Your adoptive parents were here also to help comfort you and even tended your wound."
The idea that Far-Flight and Sky-Dancer had been there to lick his stump did not feel strange; it felt like something they would do for him.
For a son whom they love.
"They would do that. Where are Aragorn and Faramir now?" he asked.
"They are still tending to others who were injured, for there are many who are wounded."
"Are the Furies helping with that? Their licks can help..."
"Yes, and no. They aided many of the Rohirrim in such a way, but they could not for the people of Gondor."
That made no sense.
"Why not?"
"Because the dragons, for their own good, are not allowed in the city itself. It is a tenuous situation, both Faramir and I have been advocating for them, but the people and many of the soldiers... they saw what happened in the battle. The Mordor dragons killed over fifty men in battle and more than that many people again when the Tower fell. The people are afraid of the dragons now."
"But... not the pack... they didn't do it!"
He tried to sit up, but he didn't have enough strength. His head also spun and forced him to lie back down.
"They came here... to protect the city..." he choked out.
"I know. Aragorn knows. Faramir knows. Everyone who has true influence knows. There is still much fear in the city and among the survivors. They see dragons and they remember what happened."
Hiccup looked away and closed his eyes; he felt very, very weary all of the sudden. The pain in his leg was also getting worse, which made him wince and groan.
"Use the Athelas..." Gandalf whispered.
"What?"
"The bowl on the table. Aragorn made a cure of Athelas; smelling it alone should help with the remaining pain."
Gandalf helped by retrieving and handing the bowl to him. The fragrant mash in the bowl indeed smelled much like the Athelas he remembered being exposed to.
The pain also quickly faded to only a faint throb as soon as he smelled the mash.
"Yeah, that stuff is powerful. What else happened?"
Gandalf frowned, considering what to say to that.
"Minas Tirith is not safe."
"I figured that..."
"No, you misunderstand me. The city's upper levels are mostly untouched, but the lower levels are so damaged from catapults and dragonfire that they are almost uninhabitable. Houses and towers have crumbled as recently as two days hence. Many of the city's levels might need to be abandoned until they can be repaired."
The city would need to be abandoned? That was terrible news.
"Where will everyone go? Minas Tirith is the biggest city, right?"
Gandalf nodded.
"There are other cities in Western Gondor: Pelargir, Linhir, Calembel, and, the largest of all, Dol Amroth. Everyone will be safe there. For now, as many as possible will be staying here because at least Minas Tirith has walls and armies to protect everyone."
Gandalf's explanation was another reminder that Gondor was much larger than only the area around Minas Tirith and the Pelennor. From what he remembered of Bilbo's map, there was an entire continent past the White Mountains and out to the distant ocean. That land leading out to the peninsula was filled with farms, villages, and the wild grasslands and forests.
Hiccup groaned as he set aside the bowl of Athelas.
"What else can you tell me about... everything?"
"Everything?" Gandalf tried to grin.
Hiccup was too weary to smile back, nor did he feel like doing so anyway.
"What is there to say? The battle was won at a heavy cost. Moonbeam explained to me what happened with the Mordor dragons."
"Yeah, that all happened... even the one I killed."
Gandalf grimly nodded.
"You did what was necessary even by killing."
"I know. I mean, I know that I should think that, but it still hurts to know that I'm a dragon-killer."
Moonbeam chuffed and lifted her head, entering the conversation for the first time since her return.
"And so are we. So is Burning-Star. Did we do bad by killing?" she asked.
"No, I... just wish that none of this had happened."
Gandalf faintly nodded.
"Indeed. So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide..."
"All I have to decide is what to do with the time I still have?" Hiccup finished.
"Yes, whoever taught you that must be most wise."
He chuckled at that. Then his thoughts drifted to a matter he was very uncertain about. While the battle was won, there was one opponent in particular whose fate mattered a lot.
"What else about the battle? What about the Witch-king?"
"I thought you might want to know about that. There was no chance for me to face him before he flew off into the Pelennor. He wanted to kill the leadership among those who opposed him, perhaps saving me for last. He flew off to find King Theoden."
Hiccup started in shock and dread as Gandalf held up a hand.
"Peace, Haddock. King Theoden lives."
"Oh gods... good. What... what happened?"
Gandalf freely grinned again.
"It is strange how fate works. I know not if the prophecy concerning the Witch-king's demise could have applied to me, but it evidently did not. He found King Theoden upon the battlefield and tried to slay him, but Flame-In-The-Night was there to help guard him. The Fury was wounded, but he killed the fellbeast even though his fire did nothing to the Witch-king. Theoden stood to defend him against the Witch-king, though there was nothing he alone could do. As I understand it, that was when Eowyn and Merry arrived."
"What! Eowyn and Merry were there?"
"Yes, they rode to battle together despite orders not to. Even so, the Witch-king could perhaps have slain them both, except that someone else disobeyed instructions to stay behind. Snowflame also flew to war. She wanted to be there to help protect Eowyn."
He was struck speechless as Gandalf continued.
"A shieldmaiden of Rohan, a Hobbit with a blessed dagger which was especially potent against Angmar, and a female dragon. Together, they killed the Witch-king, and thus the prophecy was fulfilled that he would meet his doom not by the hand of man."
One detail, that Merry's dagger was especially strong against the undead or against Agnmar, struck a chord in his memory.
Wait... I gave the Barrow-dagger to Merry and...
Despite everything, he grinned and even chuckled, though only wearily.
"Wow, oh gods. Cannot be killed by men... and he runs into the only woman, the only Hobbit, and one of the few dragons in the battle! How about that?"
"Yes, as though such a meeting were fated to be. Merry is doing better, but Eowyn is still not well."
That took away all his meager cheer.
"What? Why not?"
"She was cursed by striking down the Witch-king. She fell into a deep sleep like death, but she will live, though it is a question whether she will find joy again. I understand that she rode to war out of despair and a stubborn wish for glory."
"Yeah, that wish for glory sounds like her. Not the despair though. Why is that?"
Gandalf frowned and shook his head.
"That is not my place to say. Snowflame is helping her to heal. What else is there you should know? Denethor took his own life."
While it was not so surprising given that the Steward was going crazy near the end, it was still a shock to hear that he had killed himself.
"And I know why he did it," Gandalf added.
"He gave up," Hiccup simply said.
"Yes, but I know what was torturing him all along. In addition to grief from Boromir's death, he also had a Palantir."
"What! He had one too?"
Gandalf nodded.
"We found him in the tombs where he had burned himself while clutching a Palantir. I believe that he was using it to watch the lands and observe all that was happening around Gondor. It explains why he knew so much of events happening far from here. But he also saw the strength of the Enemy. Sauron only let him see the might of Mordor, which led Denethor to despair. He must have been shown visions of dragons attacking the city, and then those visions were confirmed. Seeing that was too much for him and his frail mind, already so worn down from long struggle and grief."
Hiccup would have felt pity for the man, except that he remembered Denethor's terrible parting words: his shouting that the dragons had betrayed them all. That despair and misunderstanding had probably touched many of the soldiers in the city.
"Some of the soldiers tried to shoot us: me, Toothless, and Moonbeam."
Gandalf looked visibly pained by that.
"Faramir is the new Steward of the city now. He spoke to his Rangers and to all in the city, trying to explain what really happened. He gave orders that none of the dragons are to be harmed, and some of the Furies have helped search the wreckage for the fallen."
Hiccup glanced over at Moonbeam, and she nodded sharply.
"We smelled trapped humans, some dead and some alive, and we helped to dig them out."
"That's good," he said, relieved that all hope was not lost on that front.
"Even so," Gandalf continued, "we agree that it is best for the dragons to remain outside the city, for everyone's good."
Fair enough. I can't blame the survivors after all that...
"What about the rest of the Fellowship: Gimli, Legolas, and Pippin?"
"They are all well. It may amuse you to hear that Gimli bested Legolas in their competition to kill the most Orcs."
That indeed brought him some amusement.
"How did that happen?"
"I believe that Legolas ran out of arrows and had to resort to his knives. There was also some dispute between them about whether a Mumakil should count as one kill."
Yeah, Legolas would run out of arrows eventually...
They both grinned at that before the amusement faded.
"What happens next?" Hiccup asked.
"I, Aragorn, Theoden, and Faramir, will speak about that in several days. The Enemy has suffered a defeat here, yes, but this was only a part of his numbers. The game is still being played. There is a final throw, one more move, that I see we must make."
Gandalf then went silent, gazing off into the distance.
"Well, whatever it is, I don't think the Furies can do it. The pack has been... hurt a lot already," Hiccup whispered.
"I understand and will let you know when we take council. For now you should rest," Gandalf kindly instructed.
"Yeah, I can do that."
"We can get you a temporary peg in a few days once your wound has healed more. The people of Gondor are not strangers to such wounds in war."
"I understand."
Gandalf stood up, slowly nodded toward him and Moonbeam, and then departed. Everything was peaceful and silent after he left. Hiccup again thought over everything he had learned: who had lived, who had not, and the consequences of the battle. There was little else that mattered.
It could have been far worse.
While he wanted to go back to sleep and get more rest as Gandalf had instructed, there were people he needed to meet first. His parents were first and foremost before anyone else.
"Who else is here from the pack? Where is everyone?" he whispered.
"Far-Flight and Sky-Dancer are with Wings-Of-Ice right now. Flame-In-The-Night is also staying with him as an Alpha. Snowfall took the rest of the pack back to Edoras. They..."
She hung her head and stared at her paws.
"They want to comfort Dreamcatcher and Tail-Hunter," she whispered.
That reminder left him numb again. The thought of Tail-Hunter, so friendly and playful to everyone, being told that her father would not be flying back was too terrible to dwell on and was almost just as bad was Dreamcatcher's situation.
Gods... how does anyone move on from that?
He frowned, facing Toothless.
"How is he... really?" he whispered.
She looked back at him and thought about what to say. Her ears went back as she grumbled.
"He is weak still. The rot in the bite took much strength from him. His sleep has been bad also..."
"How?"
"Bad dreams."
That's odd.
"Do you think we can wake him up?" he whispered.
"Should we?"
"He'd want to know that I'm alright..."
"Okay," she purred.
She bent down and nuzzled Toothless's neck, purring softly to him. He shuffled in place and an ear twitched.
"My dear mate..."
Toothless grumbled as he twitched in sleep. Then he blinked slowly as he opened his eyes.
"Yes... what is it?" Toothless sighed.
"Hiccup is awake," she nipped one of his ears.
Toothless spun on him and stared, his eyes going wide. Then Toothless groaned as he got to his paws and walked over to him with Moonbeam at his side.
"Brother..."
"Brother..."
Toothless looked very weary, and his fallen ears revealed something was bothering him. Hiccup pulled the blankets off himself and tried to stand; it was difficult to do without one of his feet.
"Ugh, stupid leg... think you can give me a hand, bro?"
Toothless warbled in confusion and held out a forepaw.
"I can give you a paw..."
Hiccup laughed freely for the first time since waking. Toothless caught on and toothlessly smiled as Moonbeam joined in until their throaty peals filled the tent.
That's the Toothless I know and love...
"What I meant was could you help me up?"
Toothless nodded and bent his head down so Hiccup could grab hold of his neck.
"Thanks, bro..." Hiccup mumbled as he stood up.
Moonbeam purred softly as she stood on his other side. She also warbled solemnly as she stared down at his missing foot.
"Can you... make a new paw?" she asked.
"Yeah, I can."
She barked in surprise.
"Truly?"
"Easily. I know plenty of people who lost a foot; they were fine."
She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good. I want you to walk again," she hummed.
Toothless whined and nudged his shoulder.
"Can you forgive me, brother?" Toothless whispered.
"Huh? Forgive you for what?"
"I failed you. I could not catch you..."
"I could say the same thing about myself. It's my fault for being in the battle at all. I really didn't belong out there. I was useless..."
"Still, I thought I could always be there to keep you safe," Toothless mumbled.
"So what if you weren't there? Moonbeam caught both of us."
They both glanced up at her as she bashfully looked away. Hiccup then shoved Toothless's shoulder while gently holding Moonbeam's head.
"I think you made a good choice to take her as your mate."
Toothless rolled his eyes.
"We knew that already. I wish that you were not hurt though."
"Think about it this way: now we match, you and me."
"Both hurt by one of the other kind?" Toothless huffed after a moment of thought.
Hiccup shrugged while gently holding her head.
"Neither was intentional. I... didn't try to take the tailfin, and Moonbeam didn't try to take the foot. I don't blame her at all."
"Thank you, Hiccup..." she whispered and nudged his shoulder.
He hugged her head as she solemnly crooned. Then he turned to his brother.
"Bro, do you mind carrying me? I'd like to go see our parents, and I can't really walk like this."
He put on a shirt and pants, and then Toothless wordlessly crouched down to let him on his back. They left the tent and went outside together. Toothless walked slowly with his head hung; he was still apparently weary from the aftermath of the battle.
Hiccup gasped as he looked around at all that he could see. They were indeed well outside the city, almost up against the mountains to the north of the city. That put them well above the rest of the fields and plain.
The fields of the Pelennor closest to the city were covered in tents with many different banners flying high. Large piles of shapes, surely those of the fallen, as well as several truly massive forms littered the landscape before the city. The lower levels of Minas Tirith looked like rubble, especially on the northern corner of the city where the Tower had collapsed. There was no more smoke billowing into the sky.
Most impressively was how the dark clouds had been pushed back by the westerly wind. The two winds were battling high over the Pelennor, between the city and the distant mountains of shadow beyond which Mordor lay hidden.
Everything on the ground was still and calm. Herds of horses were grazing as their Rohirrim masters watched over them. Men and women were walking from tent to tent, likely tending to the wounded within.
Seeing all the survivors was another terrible reminder of those who had not survived, most significantly one of the pack.
"Where... where is Growls-At-His-Shadow? Where was he taken?"
"The pack carried him up onto the mountain. We buried him in the snow so that rot could not eat him..." Moonbeam whispered.
Hiccup idly nodded as they continued walking. Sitting on Toothless's back as the Fury walked was an odd experience since they almost never did that before. Being on his back had always been for flying.
It didn't help that Toothless was visibly weak and tired.
"You okay?"
"Yes, I can walk," Toothless grumbled.
"Alright then."
They continued between the tents in silence. Finally, they arrived at the edge of the camp and saw several Furies resting close together.
Two of the Furies spotted them, immediately hopped to their feet, and bounded over to them.
"Hiccup!" "Burning-Star!"
Far-Flight and Sky-Dancer hopped up next to Toothless and started nuzzling him and Hiccup.
"My cubs..." Sky-Dancer whined.
"Mom..." "Dam..."
"You both got hurt," she added.
"We're okay," Hiccup consoled her.
Far-Flight bent down and glared at the bandaged stump.
"You still lost a paw," he grumbled.
"Yeah, but I'll live."
Moonbeam stepped closer and spoke.
"He said that he can make a new paw like how Burning-Star has a new tailfin."
Sky-Dancer and Far-Flight gasped together as their eyes went wide in shock.
"Is that true?" Sky-Dancer asked.
"Yes, I can make a prosthetic, a new foot. What about you two? Any hurts?"
Far-Flight growled and showed off a scratch on his side. The injury had probably drawn blood, but it was nothing bad at all.
"I got that when we flamed one of the twisted-into-wrong things. Sky-Dancer was too fast for them to hurt."
Toothless chuckled.
"Well flown, dam!"
She rolled her shoulders in a shrug, and then her ears fell.
"You came here to see Wings-Of-Ice, true?" she whispered.
"Yes, we should," Hiccup solemnly agreed.
"Before you see him, you should know that his soul-fire is very cold," Far-Flight sighed.
He really didn't want to think about how terrible it must be. Would a truly grounded dragon be able to be happy even if nothing else changed? Would Eyes-That-Shimmer reject him now after what had changed? What about how this would impact young Nightfall? She was only three and had just started flying on her own a few months ago.
Hiccup wiped his cheek with his sleeve.
"Let's go see if we can help him..." he whispered.
They started for the other two Furies who hadn't moved yet, though they were awake and watching. Flame-In-The-Night got to his feet as they approached. He appeared to lack his usual energy, and his ears remained fallen. He also limped slightly, favoring his left side.
"Hiccup, you are better now?" Flame-In-The-Night softly asked.
"I will be, mostly after I make a new foot-paw. How about you and Wings-Of-Ice?"
"We will... live. I got bit in a leg, but that is nothing..."
From where Hiccup sat he could not see anything strange about Wings-Of-Ice. The male lay on his belly with his right wing folded away as usual while he stared listlessly into the distance.
Oh gods... I don't want to see it...
At the same time, he knew that he had to see it to show respect to Wings-Of-Ice. Letting the Fury see his stump might also help him not feel alone in having such a wound. Not that there was any comparing a lost wing and a lost foot.
"Let's go meet him."
Toothless nodded once and then started for Wings-Of-Ice. He was also very chilled about meeting his grounded packmate. It was because he and Hiccup met Wings-Of-Ice on a chance encounter in the northern wild that they found the pack at all.
The orange-eyed male stared at them as they neared. Then they stood directly before him.
No one said anything for a long time until Hiccup sighed.
"Wings-Of-Ice, how are you... doing?"
"Doing?"
"I mean, how are you feeling?"
"Lost..."
"Lost?" Toothless asked.
Wings-Of-Ice snarled and turned to face them; his doing so let them see his other side.
They stared in numb shock at the stump where his left wing had been. Nothing was left except a couple feet of the limb.
"You can fly again! I never will!"
Sky-Dancer stepped forward.
"Please do not growl at my cubs. They were also hurt..." she softly hummed.
Wings-Of-Ice stared at Hiccup's visibly missing foot and at the bandages on Toothless's neck.
"Your mate will not care about your being grounded," Far-Flight added, "She will stay with you. We know her."
Wings-Of-Ice looked away and lay his head on the ground.
"You do not know that, and even if she does... so what?"
"If she turns tail on you now when you have little Nightfall together... I will have strong words with her as a pack-Alpha!" Flame-In-The-Night huffed.
"Nothing you can say changes anything..." Wings-Of-Ice sighed.
Wings-Of-Ice then glanced at Hiccup and Toothless.
"I wish that you had not found us."
A long and painful silence reigned after that.
"You do not mean that..." Sky-Dancer whispered in shock.
"We knew that there would be dangers from doing this, from flying to join flights with humans," Flame-In-The-Night said.
Wings-Of-Ice stared off into the distance.
"Do you not care that Starlight and Snowflame might have died last time? You have already lost two of the pack because of this... flight."
"Two?" Hiccup whispered.
"Growls and me. I am dead to the pack now," Wings-Of-Ice sighed.
"No!" "Wrong!" "Rotted-thinking!" "You are not!"
"Those are words only..."
Wings-Of-Ice then pulled his remaining wing over himself and said no more.
Hiccup wanted to go comfort him, but that would mean getting down from Toothless. Wings-Of-Ice also didn't look like he cared for being consoled. Going to touch him was almost certainly a bad idea.
They glanced to Flame-In-The-Night who got to his paws and gestured for them to follow him. They all walked away to speak freely.
"I am staying with him. He needs one of us to watch him to make sure he does not... hurt himself," Flame-In-The-Night explained.
"Can he get better and not be so... sad?" Hiccup asked.
Flame-In-The-Night grimaced.
"He is always-grounded now. You cannot give him a new wing, can you?"
"No."
"I did not think so. Being always-grounded can end in the ever-sleep," Flame-In-The-Night explained.
Far-Flight and Sky-Dancer shivered.
"What is that?" Hiccup asked, morbidly curious.
"It means that a soul-fire can go so cold that the dragon goes to sleep and never wakes up. It dies in sleep," Flame-In-The-Night softly explained.
Dying of despair?
"Does that happen... often?"
"Mostly with old pairs after one of the pair dies. The other... wants to follow to the next place: to the stars."
Hiccup slumped in place on Toothless's back as everything weighed heavily on him anew. Seeing the gravely-wounded Fury so inconsolable was one more reminder of how what had happened was, at least in part, his fault.
"What happens now?" Toothless asked.
"The rest of the pack is home now. Eyes-That-Shimmer, Nightfall, Windripper, Breath-Of-Sky, and Mystery will fly here to be with their kin. Snowfall will stay in Edoras as Alpha for the rest of the pack while I am here. They will comfort Dreamcatcher. What will you five do?"
"We should stay together as a family-pack," Sky-Dancer hummed.
"Yes," Far-Flight agreed, "we have hurts that need comforting also. We should also learn what the humans want to do next."
Flame-In-The-Night grumbled.
"I do not think we can do more fighting. We have lost much, and the humans here do not trust us."
Hiccup slowly nodded, agreeing entirely with all of that. The pack had suffered enough already. The situation with Gondor was also tenuous after the disaster during the battle for the city. The leaders like Faramir and Aragorn understood what happened, but the normal people there didn't. They wanted to blame someone, so they were blaming people who look like the ones who hurt them.
"I understand," he nodded, "I will tell the human Alphas that the pack cannot fight more."
Flame-In-The-Night hummed softly and hung his head, looking away.
"I am sorry for not telling you about the lost Packless ones."
Hiccup frowned. Not being aware of the other Night Furies was inexcusable. The Alphas should have told them, if for nothing other than they could have helped Gondor prepare better.
"We should have been told about them. Why didn't you say anything?"
Flame-In-The-Night glanced at Far-Flight and Sky-Dancer before looking back to him and Toothless.
"I was ashamed that I lost them, among other reasons. I did not want to remember them, and that almost got you killed. I am sorry."
"It's okay. Everything is fine now."
Flame-In-The-Night grumbled, turned aside, and strode off to rest with Wings-Of-Ice.
"What is wrong with him?" Toothless asked.
Far-Flight hissed.
"Losing packmates hurt us all much. Most of us did not lose kin, but some did. Not telling you about them was wrong, but I understand why he wanted to forget them."
Hiccup frowned, sure there was something going unsaid. Maybe it was very personal to someone.
"We should rest," Sky-Dancer purred.
"Good idea," Toothless agreed.
Hiccup nodded.
"Alright, we going together?"
Far-Flight, Sky-Dancer, Toothless, and Moonbeam wordlessly agreed, and everyone slowly strode back to the tent where he had woken up. There was just enough room inside for all of them to lay down together.
Sky-Dancer helped Hiccup get down and gave him a wing to rest under, which he gladly did after grabbing some blankets to rest on. There was something odd about letting her treat him like that when he was basically a man already, but these were special circumstances, so he didn't complain. Toothless and Moonbeam curled up together with her head on his neck.
A peaceful silence followed save for the purring. However, in the calm peace, the outcome of the battle: the death, losses, and broken trust, weighed upon him again.
Was any of this necessary? Why had he been so callous in suggesting that the pack get involved at all? Did it have to happen this way? In all his time back on Berk, he had not lost anyone he truly cared about and knew, so the pain of war had never been real. The only such death that impacted his life was his mother's being taken, but that happened when he was only a baby. He had never wept for anyone who died in the raids or had simply vanished.
The raids had been nothing but a game, a game everyone in dragon training had enjoyed and even looked forward to. Fishlegs with his statistics, Snotlout with his bravado, the Twins with their craziness and pranking, Astrid with her dedication to improvement, and of course himself with his... everything. He hadn't taken any of it seriously.
But the Furies had chosen to fly to Rohan's and Gondor's defense anyway of their own free choice. They wanted to join the war. Even Growls-At-His-Shadow had volunteered to fly to Gondor's aid.
So who was to blame?
The obvious answer was that the blame fell on Sauron and his forces for being the aggressors and attacking the city, but that explanation felt shallow and simplistic.
"I'm so sorry..." he barely whispered.
Sky-Dancer nudged his head.
"For what, son?"
"Everything..."
"That is much to be sorry for..."
"I know."
She ruffled his hair with her breath.
"Hush now, little one."
"If you say..."
She started humming.
"Rest now, little one, make not a sound. You will fly above the ground. Small you are now, but you will grow and see how great you will be. Rise and hunt, laugh and sing, then sleep under my wing. Strong and free, you will fly high with the clouds in the sky."
The dragon lullaby was calming and hopeful, or at least it would be in most cases. She certainly meant well, but she didn't know how thoroughly his wings were broken.
He said nothing aloud as he gazed at Toothless and saw that the Fury was already asleep.
There were talks that he had to have with Toothless, and maybe with Moonbeam also, on their own. He also wanted to meet Aragorn, Faramir, Theoden, Eowyn, and the rest of the Fellowship when possible.
But there was going to be plenty of time to do so. He doubted that any of them were going anywhere soon. He certainly couldn't go anywhere on his own.